Sunday, August 4, 2019
Sunday's Short Stack: Team Luker by Nell Iris
Title: Team Luker
Author: Nell Iris
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: August 3, 2019
Publisher: JMS Books
What if this is the last time we lie like this?
Uncertainty is keeping Ellery Luker awake at night and robbing him of his appetite. It’s been five days since the love of his life and partner of twenty-five years, Jools, went to the doctor. Five days since the biopsy. Five days of going crazy with worry and what ifs?
What if Jools suffer from the same disease that stole Ellery’s mother when he was just eleven? What if all Ellery’s worst fears come true?
What if ...?
This short story will have all the feels coming to the surface. I don't have a significant other but I have been my mother's 24/7 caregiver for the better part of the last 25 years, the worry and heartache that comes from waiting is excruciating. So I may not fully understand the fear of losing your other half as Ellery is dealing with, I do understand the places your mind goes when the waiting game is at your door. The what ifs can damage a person's spirit. Jools does his best to ease Ellery's fears by reminding them of how they met. This moment may not really do much to ease the worry but it does show the reader how lasting their love is. I won't give away the ending but I will say be prepared to get emotional.
Team Luker is a short story but it is more than worth the time and money because not only is it a lovely reading gem, it just might help you to appreciate life and those around you. Some people will probably walk away saying "I'd love to see more of Ellery and Jools 25 years together" and I'm sure the author would have done a marvelous job with it but personally I think Team Luker is the perfect length. For me, nothing shows the true connection between people, be it a couple, siblings, parent/child, or friendship, more than in a time of crisis and Nell Iris has done a fabulous job telling that love. This one may be short on quantity but it is long on quality.
RATING:
I can’t live without you, my brain screams in panic, but I bite down the words, lock them away in the back of my mind. I need to be strong for him -- I can’t crumble at his feet when it’s he who has the health issues -- but at the moment, I don’t know how.
Not saying the words out loud doesn’t help; he can read me even in darkness. Even when I don’t say a word and with my back turned to him.
“And if it is what we fear, Ellery, I fight. I fight like hell, because I’m not leaving you, you hear?”
I nod, uncertain that I’ll be able to keep the panic out of my voice.
He presses a kiss to my nape. “I need you. You’re my rock. My strength. I can’t do this alone.” The raspiness -- the worry? -- in his voice prompts me to speak.
“We’re a team,” I say, proud that my voice isn’t cracking. “We’ll always be a team.”
“Go Team Luker!” His exclamation coaxes a smile from me, like he knew it would. He peppers more kisses at my nape. Featherlight and soft, until a shiver racks my body. He hums, his chest vibrating against my back, and he rubs his leg against mine.
Being surrounded by him makes me feel safe and cherished, and it loosens my tongue. “I can’t lose you, Jools. I can’t.” It’s a trembling whisper but I’m sure he can hear me in the otherwise silent room. “Not now that I finally get to call you my husband. Not ever. We’re supposed to grow old and gray together. We’re supposed to live happily ever after. I can’t ... I can’t ...” I bite down on my tongue to stop the frantic blabbering. He doesn’t need this from me.
Be strong, Ellery. At least try.
“Hey.” He rolls me onto my back, climb on top of me and straddles my thighs. Leaning forward, he cups my face with warm, caring palms, and he rests his forehead against mine. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not.”
I throw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and cling to him like a monkey. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry ...”
He cuts me off with a kiss; his full lips against mine, his hands on my face, and his groin pushing into mine curl my toes and take the edge off the piercing worry. When his tongue begs to be let into my mouth, I gasp, and he slips inside. He’s licking the roof of my mouth, curling his tongue around mine. Devouring me, loving me. Distracting me from my panicked thoughts.
I slacken under him as he rubs his chest and stomach against me, using his entire body to tell me how much I mean to him. Trying to reassure me.
Do you think I want to leave you? his movements say. You’re mine as much as I’m yours, his lips say as he brushes them against my skin. I’ll fight to my last breath to stay with you, his caressing fingers say.
Jools is eloquent and well-spoken, but we communicate best skin to skin. Body to body.
Breath to breath.
Not saying the words out loud doesn’t help; he can read me even in darkness. Even when I don’t say a word and with my back turned to him.
“And if it is what we fear, Ellery, I fight. I fight like hell, because I’m not leaving you, you hear?”
I nod, uncertain that I’ll be able to keep the panic out of my voice.
He presses a kiss to my nape. “I need you. You’re my rock. My strength. I can’t do this alone.” The raspiness -- the worry? -- in his voice prompts me to speak.
“We’re a team,” I say, proud that my voice isn’t cracking. “We’ll always be a team.”
“Go Team Luker!” His exclamation coaxes a smile from me, like he knew it would. He peppers more kisses at my nape. Featherlight and soft, until a shiver racks my body. He hums, his chest vibrating against my back, and he rubs his leg against mine.
Being surrounded by him makes me feel safe and cherished, and it loosens my tongue. “I can’t lose you, Jools. I can’t.” It’s a trembling whisper but I’m sure he can hear me in the otherwise silent room. “Not now that I finally get to call you my husband. Not ever. We’re supposed to grow old and gray together. We’re supposed to live happily ever after. I can’t ... I can’t ...” I bite down on my tongue to stop the frantic blabbering. He doesn’t need this from me.
Be strong, Ellery. At least try.
“Hey.” He rolls me onto my back, climb on top of me and straddles my thighs. Leaning forward, he cups my face with warm, caring palms, and he rests his forehead against mine. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not.”
I throw my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist and cling to him like a monkey. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry ...”
He cuts me off with a kiss; his full lips against mine, his hands on my face, and his groin pushing into mine curl my toes and take the edge off the piercing worry. When his tongue begs to be let into my mouth, I gasp, and he slips inside. He’s licking the roof of my mouth, curling his tongue around mine. Devouring me, loving me. Distracting me from my panicked thoughts.
I slacken under him as he rubs his chest and stomach against me, using his entire body to tell me how much I mean to him. Trying to reassure me.
Do you think I want to leave you? his movements say. You’re mine as much as I’m yours, his lips say as he brushes them against my skin. I’ll fight to my last breath to stay with you, his caressing fingers say.
Jools is eloquent and well-spoken, but we communicate best skin to skin. Body to body.
Breath to breath.
Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies’ room), loves music (and singing along but, let’s face it, she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (“Make it so”). She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!
Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.
Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.
Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.
EMAIL: contact@nelliris.com
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